1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to accessories for vehicles, and more specifically to an activity center which may be connected to the rear surface of a folding seat back that provides an organizational compartment and a horizontal surface for use in educational, entertainment, or work related applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The addition of components or accessories to vehicles to make the time spent in them more enjoyable or useful is an important part of vehicle design. For example, it would be highly desirable to have educational or entertainment components added to vehicles to make long-distance travel with young children more enjoyable. Parents have previously entertained children in the rear seats of vehicles with small toys, books and the like, the organization of which, together with snack foods and drinks, all present the opportunity for clutter and inconvenience.
Several products are known which attempt to solve this or related problems, including a fold-down auto office described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,358, issued May 9, 2000, to Demick et al. In this device, a cover is provided for a recessed storage area within a seat back, the cover being hinged to allow access to the storage area. The seat back may be rotated forwardly to a horizontal position. The auto office system of this patent includes various pouches and implement holders on the inside of the cover and a laterally extending support panel which can be used for a notepad or with a cellular telephone.
Activity centers of several types are illustrated and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/168,643, filed in the name of Bedro et al., on Oct. 8, 1998. In one embodiment of this patent, an activity center is provided in the back of a forward section of a seat back which folds downwardly so that the activity center is located between two seating positions. In a preferred embodiment, a four-bar linkage and a gas cylinder are used to bias the activity center to an elevated level, and panels are rotated laterally so that each of two occupants may have a platform located over his or her lap. Several different embodiments are shown for providing the movement of the platforms into the appropriate position, and the platforms may be variously configured, including providing raised studs for Lego(copyright) blocks or writing surfaces.
In another embodiment of the activity center shown in the Bedro et al. application, the activity center is located in the rear surface of the front passenger seat of a vehicle. It includes a similar linkage to open it to provide both a forwardly extending and a laterally extending planar surface. In both embodiments, a base may be provided for storage of items such as Lego(copyright) blocks, pens, pencils, markers, small toys, work tools, etc.
While the aforementioned auto office and activity centers, and other components and accessories known in the art, are generally useful for their intended purposes, they may require more components and assembly time and cost than is desirable for some applications. It would be a significant advance in this art to provide an activity center which would be easy to manufacture and to install, easy to use, and which would provide a plurality of organizational, educational, entertainment and work-related features.
A primary feature of the present invention is to provide an activity center for a vehicle seat back which may be constructed and installed in a wide variety of vehicles.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an activity center for a vehicle which provides at least two planar surfaces which may be used for entirely different end uses.
A different feature of the present invention is to provide an activity center for a vehicle which may be used when the seat is folded forwardly so that the rear of the seat back is generally parallel to a seat cushion.
Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide an activity center for a vehicle in which the exterior surface of a panel may be easily altered by the vehicle owner.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a vehicle activity center which may be modularized so that it may be removed from the seat back, whereby its organizational, entertainment, educational and/or work-related benefits may be realized at a location remote from the seat back itself.
A still further feature of one embodiment of the invention is to provide a panel that may be reversed without removing it from the base.
How these and other features of the invention are accomplished will be described in the following detailed description of the preferred and alternate embodiments, taken in conjunction with the drawings. Generally, however, they are accomplished individually, collectively, or in various subcombinations by an activity center which includes a base which may define a storage cavity and a panel having first and second surfaces. The base is connected either permanently or removably to the rear surface of a seat back. The panel is connected to the base for movement between a closed position in which access to the storage area is prevented and an open position which allows access to the storage area. The panel is also preferably connected to the base in such a manner that it may be selectively positioned so that a first surface thereof points away from the storage area or a second position wherein the second surface points away from the storage area. The first and second surfaces may be provided with entertainment features, such as raised studs which can engage Lego(copyright) blocks, or a checkerboard design, or a drawing board such as a magnetic particle drawing board, or a dry erase marker board, etc. These activity centers provide entertainment for small children. Alternatively, the panel surfaces can be used for supporting computers or other work-related, entertainment or educational devices, while the storage area provides a place in which one or a plurality of articles may be stored to reduce clutter and facilitate organization within the vehicle.
In one embodiment, the panel is hinged to the base along its bottom edge and held in its closed position by a latch engaging the opposite edge. In another embodiment, the panel is retained in a mount which is pivotally joined to the base. The interchangeability of the panel surfaces is accomplished in this embodiment by a sliding engagement of the panel with the activity center.
In an especially preferred embodiment, the panel may be reversed without removing it from the base, such as by the use of pins extending from either side of the panel adjacent one end thereof, the pins sliding in tracks located along the edges of the base.
In a further embodiment, any of the above-mentioned styles of activity centers may be removably connected to the seat back so that the storage area, as well as the platform may be removed and used within or outside of the vehicle.
Other ways in which the features of the invention are accomplished will become apparent to those skilled in the art after they have read the following description, and such other ways are deemed to fall within the scope of the present invention if they fall within the scope of the claims which follow.